There are starchitects and then there is Winka Dubbeldam—the New York–based architect who is lighting up the cityscape with buildings that quietly dazzle. In 2004, Dubbeldam's Archi-Tectonics firm ushered in a new wave of adventurous architecture in New York with a design for a downtown condominium tower fronted by an 11-story wall of cascading glass. Dubbeldam's projects include a recent renovation of the musician John Legend's Manhattan loft and an orphanage and school she is creating in Liberia. At home in her clean-lined Manhattan apartment, the Dutch-born Dubbeldam, who is typically clad in black, lives with black walls ("a little experiment"), black and white furnishings, and a few purple accents. "I'm not a beige person," she says. "I don't like bland."